...can be potentially negative by spreading misinformation (as cited in Rankin et al., 2005). However, only scant research supports this concern, and other research shows that the overall accuracy of the health information on internet is good (as cited in Rankin et al., 2005). This paper is to analyze MedlinePlus, one of the patient education websites, using Fry Readability Formula, SAM (Suitability Assessment of Materials), and the guidelines that Rankin, Stallings and London (2005) suggest. MedlinePlus contains countless pages of health information including diseases, interactive health tutorials, games, medical dictionary, and videos. Therefore, analyzing one of the vast amounts of pages will have limitation to generalize the whole website. This analysis can be considered as an example. Because I work in the renal unit, and most of my patients experience chronic kidney failure, I chose the page of the chronic kidney disease. The URL is as following; http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000471.htm It will be discussed in the three criteria; qualitative criteria, quantitative criteria, and technical and design characteristics. Discussion Qualitative Criteria On the internet, there are vast amount the...
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...Nephropathic Infantile Cystinosis Introduction Nephropathic cystinosis is an atypical genetic lysomal storage disorder distinguished by a destruction of the transfer of amino acid cystine from the lysosomes. Lysosomes are responsible for breaking down unwanted materials into cellular substances, and when cystine accumulates it crystallizes in the lysosomes of the cells and progresses to harm multiple tissues and organs of the body. The intent of this paper is to inform the importance of taking medication to reduce the surplus of cystine into the body’s system. Recognizing signs and symptoms and properly diagnosing is a key factor in treating this disorder. Individuals with infantile cystinosis experience both tubular dysfunction (renal Fanconi syndrome) and glomeralular deterioration. The renal Fanconi Syndrome usually occurs within the first year of life. Glomeralular deterioration progresses throughout the first decade of life, resulting in end-stage renal failure unless patients are treated with cysteamine (The importance of early diagnosis of nephropathic cystinosis to limit tissue and organ damage by treating it with specific medication, and if left untreated patient can develop renal failure by the age of 10. The prevalence of the infantile form of cystinosis transpires in 1 in 100,000 – 200,000 live births and in the North American population there is a carrier frequency of 1 in every 200. Europeans from the United Kingdom...
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...Renal hypertension is an elevated blood pressure caused by kidney disease. It is caused by a narrowing in the artery that delivers blood to the kidney. Renal hypertension usually causes no symptoms. The narrowing in the arteries can't be felt. Unless it's dangerously high, high blood pressure causes no symptoms either. Symptoms of severely elevated blood pressure include: • Headache • Confusion • Blurry or double vision • Bloody (pink-colored) urine • Nosebleed The vast majority of people with renal hypertension never experience these (or any) symptoms. High blood pressure is dangerous partly because there are no symptoms, so organ damage can occur slowly without being recognized.Renal hypertension can cause chronic kidney disease. This is a slow decline in kidney function. Until the condition is well advanced, chronic kidney disease also causes no symptoms.Because there are usually no symptoms, a doctor may suspect renal hypertension when someone has uncontrolled high blood pressure despite multiple medications or has unexplained chronic kidney disease. With Renal hypertension due to renal artery narrowing, medications can effectively control blood pressure. In some people with renal hypertension due to narrowing of the renal artery, even taking three or more medications every day cannot adequately control blood pressure. In these situations, a procedure to improve blood flow to the kidneys can often help. Possible procedures include the following: Angioplasty, Stenting...
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...Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis Dialysis is an artificial way to remove waste and extra fluid from the blood when the kidneys can no longer do so on their own. The main types of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. When someone has kidney failure and need to have dialysis to stay alive, they are given two choices. Both treatments require your active participation, however peritoneal requires more than hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is more for one who does not wish to have much responsibility in their treatment. Peritoneal dialysis will be more for someone who doesn’t mine playing an active role in their treatment daily. Although many people chose hemodialysis, I believe peritoneal dialysis gives you more freedom in your life. Hemodialysis requires an access to be placed in the forearm or upper arm. This is for the hemodialysis needles that will be inserted in the vein for the treatments. It uses a man-made membrane dialyzer to filter wastes and remove extra fluid from the blood. These treatments are three times a week and in some rare cases it is needed daily, six times a week and typically last for three to four hours each treatment. Sometimes these centers are located far from where the person may lives. This can be very time consuming. You don't have to do it yourself, as you do with peritoneal dialysis. It is done in a dialysis center by trained health professionals who can watch for any problems. It allows you to be in contact with other people...
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...ACUTE RENAL FAILURE Overview Acute renal failure is the most common disease in the acute care setting. It is estimated that acute renal failure occurs in up to 25% of all patients admitted to the hospital with a critical illness (Broden, 2009). It is even noted that patients who are admitted to the intensive care unit with no prior renal insufficiencies seem to have worse outcomes than do patients who have preexisting acute renal failure (Broden, 2009). Acute renal failure is a rapid decrease in kidney function, leading to collection of metabolic waste in the body. The pathophysiology of acute renal failure is reduced blood flow to the kidneys, toxins, infections and obstruction (Broden, 2009). There are three types of acute renal failure. They are pre-renal azotemia. This is caused by poor blood flow to the kidneys. The most common causes of this are hypovolemic shock and heart failure. The second type is intra-renal acute renal failure. This is caused by infections, drugs, tumors, glomerulonephritis, and obstruction. The third type is post-renal azotemia. It is caused by an obstruction outside of the kidneys (Dirkes, 2011). Assessment Data Ongoing comprehensive assessments are critical for the acute renal failure patient. The nurse must be attentive to the signs and symptoms of renal disease as well as complications with other organs and systems. The primary effect of acute renal failure is a decrease in urinary output that leads to fluid retention and edema. Oliguria...
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...college graduate with an Associate degree in Business. Patient is slightly overweight and also has a family history of high blood pressure, which is his mother. He is a non smoker but drinks on occasional weekends; he also has a family history of high blood pressure as well. He is anxious about his disease because he has no knowledge about it. High blood pressure (Hypertension) “Hypertension is usually defined in adults as systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher” (Chobanian AV et al 2003). It is when the pressure in the arteries is more than what it should normally be. High blood pressure affects men more than women. There are many factors that contribute to high blood pressure, lifestyle, diet, genetics and some of unknown origin. “In men, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) increase steadily by the age of 35 years, and reach a plateau in the 7th decade of life” (Lombardi, M. et al 2010). Signs and symptoms High blood pressure has no sign signs or symptoms that can be easy noted until it is late except during routine physical and blood pressure checks. Many people go for so many years without knowing of the disease, while only few has...
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...Brian Sina Dr. Roberts 05/03/10 Health 6.1 Kidney Failure and its Effects When we talk about serious and life threatening disease a couple things come to mind. We think about cancer, heart attacks, AIDS, and even diabetes, but one thing always slips our minds. The Encyclopedia Britannica’s latest estimate has nearly 130,000 Americans suffering from kidney failure and its strain on their lifestyle. Several thousand people a year die because of kidney failure, yet we still are not worried or warned about the disease. The goal of this essay is to inform myself and the reader’s about the serious effects of this potentially fatal disease. When your kidneys fail the body is put at serious risk. The kidneys are considered the filters of the body. They remove the waste and concentrate from the urine and they preserve electrolytes while doing this. Without them, the poisonous waste remains in the body and we wouldn’t be able to live for more than four days. While we have two kidneys all that we need to live is one; unfortunately when one fails the other usually follows in the same path. Kidney failure is unique because there are so many causes. Potentially anything you do unhealthy to your body can lead to kidney problems. Whether its cigarettes, alcohol abuse, improper diet, drugs, or even just a simple injury can stop the blood flow to the kidney and cause them to fail. This is one of the reasons that kidney failure is so common and dangerous. We speak a lot about being...
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...grasp the most important concept of renal failure and transplantations. We have gathered resources from our text books, lecture notes, trusted web pages, and YouTube videos for demonstration. Kidney Failure Overview Kidney failure is the partial or complete impairment of kidney function. It results in an inability to excrete metabolic waste products and water, as well as contributing to disturbances of all body systems. Kidney disease can be classified as acute or chronic. Acute renal failure (ARF) has a rapid onset. Chronic kidney disease usually develops slowly over months to years and renal replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation) is needed for long-term survival (Lewis 1165). ARF is a clinical syndrome characterized by a rapid loss of renal function with progressive azotemia, such as BUN and increasing levels of serum creatinine. ARF is often associated with oliguria and usually develops over hours or days. It most commonly follow severe, prolonged hypotension, hypovolemia, or exposure to a nephrotoxic agent. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as the presence of kidney damage for at least 3 months with functional or structural abnormalities of the kidneys, with or without decrease GFR. CKD is also defined as a GFR of less than 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 for at least 3 months. Five stages of CKD have been identified based on the level of kidney function as determined by the GFR. The last stage of CKD...
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...or production or urine. Kidneys is what filter the body's blood, it produces roughly about one milliliter of urine a minute and when the urine changes it is expected to shut down of the kidneys. Mrs. Jones body may have went into shock due to the surgery that she underwent, and an abnormal amount of urine is also known as oliguria. What other symptoms and signs might occur? The other symptoms that Mrs. Jones may suffer are breath odor, mood changes, decreased appetite, decreased sensation, fatigue, flank pain, tremor in the hands, high blood pressure, Nausea, nosebleeds, hiccups, seizures, shortness of breath, slow movements, swelling in the ankles, feet, and legs, and Urination changes. What is causing Ms. Jones’s kidney disease? Mrs. Jones's disease is caused by the surgery to fix the blocked blood vessels that were located in her heart. The blood is now able to pass through and fill the blood vessels, and the damage from the blood vessels that was being blocked over time that have compromised...
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...The human body has certain tasks that it needs to uphold, in order to maintain good health and regulation through out the body. A few of those tasks range from in taking oxygen and removing carbon dioxide, controlling body activities and reaction to stimuli, breaking down food and absorbing it for energy, and lastly to controlling water and salt balance. In contrary sometimes, in the worst case, the human body is unable to control and balance salt. “When kidney function goes below 10% to 15% kidneys are no longer able to filter the blood and make urine. This causes toxins to build up in the body along with excess fluid”(What is hemodialysis?). When this happens the person with this problem may undergo a treatment that replaces the kidney function such as hemodialysis. “Hemodialysis is a process that uses a man-made membrane dialyzer to remove wastes, such as urea, from the blood, restore the proper balance of electrolytes in the blood, and eliminate extra fluid from the body”(Poinier). In order for this process to work, the person with the failed kidneys has to be attached to the filter by tubes that are directly connected to hemodialysis machine. The blood of the person is evacuated from the body into the machine. “The average person has about 10 to 12 pints of blood; during dialysis only one pint (about two cups) is outside of the body at a time”(What is hemodialysis?). The dialysis machine has a blood pump that keeps the blood flowing by creating a pumping action on the...
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...Hematology - CKD M’Lyn Spinks Combating anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) with erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs) has been shown to improve both mental and physical factors (Iranian, 2013). Erythropoietin (EPO) is a protein hormone produced by the kidney that binds with receptors in the bone marrow and stimulates erythrocyte production (Munk, 2013). Perceptions of quality of life, cognition, sexual function, symptoms of depression and socialization are all scored higher in patients with Hb levels in near-normal range (Iranian, 2013). While the most common physical symptoms of anemia in CKD improve with ESA treatment, it is also been shown to positively effect the more severe consequences (Iranian, 2013). Improvement in cardiac function has been noted in patients diagnosed with left ventricular hypertrophy and congestive heart failure (Iran, 2013) as well as stabilized renal function in non-dialysis patients (Iranian, 2013). Treatment of anemia in CKD patients is also attributed to reducing lengths of hospital stays and decreasing mortality rates (Iranian, 2013). While the benefits of ESA’s in combating the symptoms and consequences of anemia in CKD are indisputable, there is a wide range of treatment regimens, inconsistent parameters for treatment, and increased risk of stroke and morbidity in the pediatric population (Bamgbola, 2011). Regimens have been reported that are up to 30% different in dose and results show wide variations in patient response (Bamgbola...
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... Anemia is the condition in which red blood cells (RBCs, also termed as erythrocytes) are not produced sufficiently to meet the need of normal body and thus not carrying sufficient amount of oxygen to the body tissues. Erythrocytes are abundantly produced in bone marrow by the process of erythropoesis, initiated by the hormone erythropoietin, found in kidney. Patients with renal failure are unable to produce enough erythropoietin to stimulate the erythropoesis process, resulting in lower production of erythrocytes (RBCs). Epogen (Epoetin alfa) is a special drug to stimulate the production of RBCs. This drug is made by the DNA recombinant technology with certain limitations and controlled dosage to the patients. In patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), HIV infected patients being treated by zidovudine and cancer patients being treated with chemotherapy, Epogen dosages are 50-100 units/kg thrice a week, 100 units/kg thrice a week and 600-900 units/kg thrice a week keeping an eye on hemoglobin level. Epoetin alfa (Epogen) injection is limited to use in certain conditions such as, if hemoglobin level rises to 11 g/dL ten Epogen is prohibited to administer. There are certain side effects of consuming Epogen ranging from local, gastrointestinal to dermatological. Discussion Red Blood Cells (RBCs) are the essential part of human blood which carries oxygen to the body tissues. If there is lack of sufficient healthy RBCs in the body, the condition is called Anemia, ranging...
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...five years. Uncontrollable high blood pressure is a symptom of kidney disease. He also has fatigued, his urine output has changed, loss his appetite and he is losing weight. These four symptoms are also signs of serious kidney problems. Acute kidney issues are most often diagnosed during a hospital stay for another cause. Acute renal failure happens quickly whereas chronic renal failure develops over time. 2. The normal RBC in men: 4.7 to 6.1 million cells per microliter (cells/mcL). George’s is 3.8 millions cells/mcL which is fairly low. His Hgb is 11.0. This is lower than the normal range of 12.4/14.9. These results from the blood test are symptoms of mild anemia. The low RBC and the low Hbg is usually caused by an abnormality or a disease. Cancer and aplastic anemia can cause the body to produce fewer red blood cells. 3. All of George’s urine test results were abnormal. When the kidneys are damaged, they fail to discharge excess creatinine and urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen level increase. In patients with damaged Chronic Kidney Failure, their glomerular filtration membrane is damaged seriously and large amounts of protein leak into urine, causing proteinuria. For his age, his GFR is low. This shows moderate decrease in renal function. 4. By stage II, 78-80 percent nephron function is lost and replaced by scare tissue. During End Stage Renal Disease only 10% of nephrons remain functioning. At this stage the GFR is significantly...
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...the same time decreasing graft rejection in renal transplant recipients. Renal Transplant and Medication Compliance: Patient-centered Nursing Interventions will Facilitate Better Patient Compliance of Medications in Post-Renal Transplant Recipients In medicine, the term non-compliance is commonly used in regard to a patient who does not take a prescribed medication or follow prescribed course treatments (MedicineNet, 2012). This is one of the major issues with post-renal transplantation recipients. Renal transplant is a surgery done to implant a healthy kidney into a person with end-stage renal disease. End-stage renal disease is when the kidney stops function all together, that makes the person unable to live without dialysis or transplant. “Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for end-stage renal disease (Theofilou, 2012). Life expectation is significantly improved among transplant patients compared with that of age-matched wait-listed patients on dialysis” (Theofilou, 2012). After renal transplant there can be many complications, the most common and major complication is graft rejection, this in many,...
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...from the bloodstream, it excretes them through urine (McDonnell & Mallon, 2005). Various conditions can damage your kidneys, including both chronic kidney disease and other conditions that affect the kidneys. If kidney damage becomes too severe, your kidneys lose their ability to function normally. This is called kidney failure or end-stage renal failure. According to the National Kidney Foundation (2005), more than 378,000 Americans suffer from chronic kidney failure and need dialysis or kidney transplantation to stay alive. End-stage renal disease is the name for kidney failure so advanced that it cannot be reversed. Renal is another word for kidney. The “renal” name is appropriate due to the fact that the kidneys in end- stage renal disease functions so poorly that they can no longer keep you alive (McDonnell & Mallon, 2005). End-stage renal disease cannot be treated with conventional medical treatments such as drugs. In chronic kidney disease only two treatments allow you to continue living when your kidneys stop functioning: dialysis and kidney transplantation, but only one offers a longer chance of survival. Dialysis is the term for several different methods of artificially filtering the blood (McDonnell & Mallon, 2005). Dialysis is a procedure that replaces some of the kidney’s normal functions, but does not cure the disease or prevent possible complications. It may even cause those complications and even reduce one’s quality of life. Dialysis is performed when...
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